Featured Image Credit: Getty/NurPhoto
Topics: Adult Industry, UK News, PornHub
Brenna Cooper
A popular pornography website has revealed the impact that the UK's controversial new laws have had on traffic to their website, as backlash over the Online Safety Act continues.
Last Friday (25 July) internet users seeking out their spicy content fix were cyber-c**kblocked by a new piece of government legislation, which mandates that websites hosting explicit content - including pornography and violence - to request age verification checks.
For adult websites which have agreed to the new Online Safety Act terms, users are now required to use one of four methods to verify their age.
Websites implementing the change include popular x-rated sites such as: Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube and LiveHDCams.
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Sites which fall foul of the new laws will be expected to pay fines of 'up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue' or even have their sites blocked.
Stricter laws to safeguard under-18s on the internet sounds like a sensible idea in theory, however, the implementation of the act has been met with harsh backlash online.
A petition calling for the government to repeal the Online Safety Act has so far received 400k signatures, claiming it is an infringement on free speech and privacy. Meanwhile several smaller websites are said to be preemptively shutting down in order to avoid being fined by the government (per New Scientist).
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There has also been a significant drop in the number of visits to x-rated websites, with The News Movement reporting that adult site XHamster saw a 85 percent decrease in traffic after the act was implemented.
"After years of operating in good faith, prioritising user safety and growing our userbase, traffic has essentially vanished in a day," a statement from the adult site read.
Meanwhile Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, voiced their concerns about how the act could force users to access adult content on the dark web.
"We know that when people choose not to age verify, they do not stop looking for adult content, they migrate to those irresponsible platforms," a spokesperson previously told LADbible.
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"We continue to believe that to make the internet safer for everyone, every phone, tablet or computer should start as a kid-safe device. Only verified adults should unlock access to things like dating apps, gambling, or adult content.
"This is the core premise of device- based age verification, which we believe is the safest and most effective option for protecting children and maintaining user privacy online."